organic

All facts and situations written about below may be found in multiple locations on the internet, the real world [farmers, scientists], your supermarket and of course, books.

While this article is mean to display the dire need to have our food put back into the hands of the common man, the UN-conventional/commercial farmer and individual growers seeking to feed their family, please do not for a moment think that I am not in awe of what this company, Monsanto, has created, and with the zeal they display in their slow yet steady march for control the Global Food Supply.

My awe does not sway my opinion however, they are batshit crazy in their aim.

In fact the depth and breadth of what is happening with this single company has been recently paralleled in the James Bond film, Quantum of Solace, where the villain SPECTRE (Special Executive for Counter-intelligence, Terrorism, Revenge and Extortion – Amazing how close Mr. Flemming was when it came to the irony government) sought control of the water supply of South America and ultimately the rest of the globe. Be it water or food, the result is the same is it not?

If anyone person or group of people were to control the water or food supply, they would in fact control the world… wouldn’t they… Do you understand this basic fact? Its very important that you see the connection.

You are what you eat and if you stop eating, you will die.

Many of you reading this do not even know this company exists and yet you use the products of this company on a daily basis and in the course of many of your lives, you use them ALL DAY. Odd that you wouldn’t even know of this company, and for those of you who do know this company, I assure you that whatever you know is a tip of the iceberg. Whatever you think, hasn’t been thoroughly thought through, the ramifications of this company’s impact on your, OUR lives and that of the planet are so cloaked in shadow and circumspection that until you spend a week or so contemplating to the true genius and then, the breadth and scope of what is happening, you may not feel the need to spring into action of any sort, and I guess that’s the point.

I say all this as I am continually learning about this company and I have realized that I shall never know the true depth of this corporation. I dare say that many of the employees, even the heads of entire divisions do not have a clue. The size is simply too large, its reach now fully encircles the globe.

For those of you who know about the Monsanto corporation, you may find yourself asking, “Why reinvent the wheel [plants] when you can be spending all this money [hundreds of Billions] on figuring out the myriad problems we are currently faced with?”. To now knowingly add further problems, I say knowingly, as the very procedures and rights of trial by jury are in fact now rigged to ensure that they are all circumvented for sake of speedy delivery to market, what motive could there possibly be other than that of profit. In a world where our government is constantly toting profit over people, what are we to discern from their collusion with this entity?

And let us hope that the lust for ever increasing profits is their only aim. For truly, an endeavor such as this could have much more dire consequences than fattened bank accounts. You, the consumer, could find yourself living in a most deliberately changed world one day and you will have nothing to say but “meep”.

No one likes to say meep.

I used to always hear in my sales training, it is easier to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission, if you see a golden opportunity, go for it. I would say Monsanto is doing just that to a degree beyond the scope of reality, and perhaps that is how they manage to fly under everyone’s radar, the scope is simply too grand in design for it to even register in the average persons brain.

But then, what can one expect from a company that seeks to patent the very food you eat?

First we have to look at ourselves and why it is possible for this to even be happening. Then we need to understand the growth, or history of the company in order to fully understand the magnitude and reach on a global scale, from there we can enter into conversation and conjecture, finally closing with a very real look at the actual results they have achieved and if it is actually the boon to mankind they try to represent or if indeed it is a extremely large can of shinola which we will all be eating from sooner or later. Literally.

How Did we get to this place in time where a Single Company is poised to take control of the “Food Supply” of the planet?

We Seek Complete Control of the Worlds Food Supply – purportedly said by a Monsanto official (with no evidence of the officials name or at what point it was said), which should not even be bothered to be re-recorded here if not for the company’s current direction and history.

While this may seem very ostentatious indeed, and surely for the person who struggles to pay bills on a daily basis, the full extent of this madness will undeniably be lost in the details and the fact that it doesn’t seem to be an immediate threat, even more so. The very idea that any one company could position themselves to own the worlds food supply is madness at best. And yet it is due to our own lethargy in action which allows for this to be occurring.

Especially when we consider that fact that most children in school do not know the names of vegetables, nor do they know how they are grown, nor where they “come from”.

We aren’t even getting into proper nutrition yet! Proper nutrition being proportions, vitamins and minerals, exercise, all that further makes us, well, us.

As most children do not know the names of common vegetables nor the reasons to eat them, we can then therefore assume, since the foremost teacher of a child is its parent, that the parents do not have grasp on the import of food. Further, it is obvious that for the most part, the schools we send our children do not see the need to educate humans on what it is to be human.

You are what You eat.

This is a key element in Monsanto’s ability to do what it is doing, and for most of the major food brands to sell food that is decidedly not food. Food, being by definition that which fuels the body, is now largely anything but. These days the average food is more a chemical intruder that must be processed out of the body with all haste possible. One need only look at current health statistics for confirmation of this fact. Silly me, we need only look at what the average school passes off as “breakfast” or “lunch” to get the idea of just how miserably we are failing the FUTURE OF OUR SPECIES.

The human body is made up of trillions of cells. Each and every cell/system in the human body needs a certain amount of vitamins, minerals, water, fat, sugars, proteins, carbs, etc. to run correctly. If it does not get what it needs, you will get some form of sickness. As you are a human being who is not genetically modified, your food must be of the most organic form possible with the widest variety available to you so that you may get all you need. Every step away from ORGANIC and NATURAL makes it a bit more difficult for the body to function correctly as now it must deal with unnatural elements and chemicals which are nothing but trash to be taken out.

Hanks to the current food system in place, we must even be wary of Organic and Natural, in fact, did you know that the USDA now requires a minimum of 94% organic ingredients in order to label something 100 percent organic.

Wait, what? Yes, you read correctly. Our system has been whipplsnapificated by the very people you rely on to keep you safe.

It is easier for a thief to steal when they are not found out. And if the ignorance of the theft and what exactly is being stolen in the first place can be made generational, all the better for a long term theft on a global scale.

As the education of our children is so very key, and that you may not believe in the true disparity between what we think children know and what they actually know, I now turn to a TedTalks video with Jamie Oliver.

Mr. Oliver is a World Renowned Chef and Activist and has a British accent which we all know makes all the difference for our puerile American ears.

When you see this video, you will be shown in the lower right hand of the screen, “What to Watch Next.” . I invite you to watch the ones by Dean Ornish, and Mark Bittman. If you do not take a moment from time to time to educate yourself on food, how do you ever expect your diet to change for the better? Surely by now most of you believe that we are what we eat…. No?

Children in French schools in France, that’s a country over there, to the right of the USA on a map, where French fries came from, these children were asked to draw a chicken in a country wide sampling of basic education.

They drew a roast chicken in a pan.

Can that really be accidental, are we merely forgetting to educate children in basics…?

That people have a basic overall lack of knowledge, not to mention a near complete lack of how their bodies work in relation to everything; many do not have the slightest clue about digestion or what makes muscles work. It is simply known that something makes the muscles work the fingers to pull back the pop top of the soda and peel off the wrapper of the microwave jiffy meal.

Many people do not see the importance of chewing food properly, the most fundamental process for your ENTIRE digestive process, and a “secret” to longevity in every centenarian I have ever read or had the pleasure of seeing interviewed by the weatherman, what was his name…?

They have a body, but feel completely helpless should anything go wrong. This is due to a fundamental lack of knowledge about one of the most important things you will ever “have” in your life, your body.

I know this may seem like I am covering the same ground in myriad ways, and I am in fact doing so as I truly hope at least one of you will leave this article with a new plan forming…

In this lack of understanding it is the smallest leap to seeing how easy it is for a person to then not understand why nutrition is important, it merely becomes a word that may or may not fit their socioeconomic status. What I mean is that the word itself is a tool to be used. Many do not feel that nutrition is within the allowable constraints of what they consider their lives, it is above their “paygrade” and hence they eat accordingly. Fast foods, pre-packaged chemical GMO mixes made with all the love one would expect of serial murderers.

To help you understand what I mean with socioeconomic class eating, as we go up in class structure, we see better meals, but this isn’t due to the people themselves necessarily. This is a byproduct of having more money and a slightly better education.

The places they go and shop have generally better products, or at least a greater diversity of products. There is more “TIME” at the family level and meals begin to take on at least the guise of the “traditional” home-owning family. Namely, one in which a family meal is considered important. In trying to keep to the ideal of this mental family image, the meals will naturally tend to be slightly healthier than the fast food of the family in the economic status below. This is a sweeping generalization and should be read as such.

Now, as with anything, from cars to literature to education, as we move up the rungs of the socio-economic ladder, we see the quality and ingredients used, increase at a near exponential level. Of course, food follows suit. One only need go into any “high end” grocer to see the difference between a Whole Foods Market and the Walmart food section.

Let it be known that Whole Foods has also agreed to sell GMO foods.

It should be noted that much of what I am writing is a generalization. That at all levels there are those who fully understand the impact of diet on health and eat accordingly.

It is through a general lack of education in the fundamental idea of diet and “what to eat”, makes possible the subjugation of food, after all, once you have the person eating subjugated, the next step, naturally, is subjugation of what they eat. Its what is done in prisons, in third world countries, it is through the withholding of foreign aid, Henry Kissinger was very good at this, it is through control of food you control people. First you must gain a basic control f the people or they wont let you control their food.

That’s the beauty of America, give the citizens remote controls and you have them… hook, line and sinker.

One of the most deplorable examples of this general lack of education/control, is the simple fact that anyone may grow a garden and yet so few do. Many languish in the idea that they are doomed to poor food quality, when a bit of sweat, some seeds and a modicum of education will allow for such a bounty as to be near magical in nature. Yet, we see very few people doing this, especially those of the lower economic status, those who would benefit MOST, do it least!? This is 100 percent due to education and nothing more.

Of course in many places you will hear and read stories of people being fined by cities for having vegetable gardens, most recently there is a family in Florida who is under the gun.

The overall system of educating humans has been, in my estimation, subjugated towards an end goal of serving the state and not the individual. Of course, not the state that people are led to believe they are voting for.

Now we must look at the history of the company that is making the most use of this lack of generalized education of not only the body but the nature of eco-systems and the planet whole.

Please continue to Part 2 for the remarkable and extremely scary history of this corporation, after you read it, ask yourself, why would I choose the makers of pharmaceuticals, plastic, nuclear weapons and astro-turf be the best provider for food for myself and family….?

Like this:

Back in Ensenada for a little bit and we’re already making the most of it!!

For the past couple of months riding through Baja we really missed having access to fresh, organic fruits and veggies, remember the Mulegé smoothie? that was definitely an exception=]

So now, time to blend some stuff!! Just finished running 5 miles, taking it easy getting back and I’m feeling hungry. Also I’ve been writing a lot about running and eating and how nutrition can help you perform better on the road. The last article written was about pre- and post-workout food. Here’s a smoothie that by slightly changing a couple of ingredients can be adapted for before or after running or training..

With 417 calories, boosting with lots of Vitamin B6, copper, manganese, magnesium, potassium, vitamin C and E, plus maca root for endurance and yerba mate for stamina and energy, this is a great pre-workout option. The avocado is filled with good healthy fats that will give you long term energy and both the avocado and the blueberries are natural effective antioxidants that protect the body from the damages caused by free radicals.

300 calories, filled with vitamin C, B6, manganese, magnesium, copper and potassium, great after-workout hydrating and refreshing smoothie. With spirulina to add protein, antioxidants and minerals to help the recovery process of the body. And you can do what we’re doing right now, after working out we drank this smoothie and that will gives us time before feeling hungry to make a healthy lunch, today’s menu: spicy beans!!

Its truly daunting in this day and age to find a protein or supplement without doing a heap of research, having a phD., and knowing a little about early everything. That being said, we have done our very best to simplify the process, as it is still over four thousand words, one could rightfully ask just how good a job we have done. In that we are trying to help you be a truly informed citizen of the good planet earth, we have added in a lot of, what we feel is, necessary information. This will focus on dietary habits, how food is grown and what scientists think about things.

If you truly do not care about that and just want to find the basic tips for choosing a good supplement, protein or otherwise, skip down to the bottom where I will put some big letters in red letting you know you’ve arrived. I strongly urge you to read this, not out of some egoic need to be heard, but because this is the world you now live in, it is not so easy to eat right, and eating right is the foundation of health. You cannot build a fortress on a foundation made of sand.

We live in an era where people are eating waaaay to much protein. Can you eat too much protein, as Snoop says, Fo Schizzle my Nizzle!

Many are doing so because they are not taking their health into their own hands and doing research, we have attempted with this article to give you a good look at the complete health package with an emphasis on protein. Its not rocket science, you ARE what YOU EAT. Based on this, take a month or two, or for the rest of your life and be very AWARE of what it is you send down the pipeline. MOST of your ills and Joys in regard to your BODY are directly related to this. This one very simple to gain control over thing, your diet. And of course, don’t forget to chew your age, your stomach has no teeth, I noticed about a year ago that interviews with very aged citizens all said they chewed their food a lot, so, that is now wisdom in my book, and now, I hope, it is in yours! If you think for a moment on the total amount of time you have spent in your life learning how to eat, for many of you it will be none. Reflect on that if you truly believe you are what you eat!?!

First identify if you need protein in your diet, many people get an ample amount of protein, in fact, too much.
Diana had the chance to work at Sanoviv, a very prestigious institute dedicated to making people well. While at the institute she saw many cases where people had TOO MUCH protein and this was the basis for many of their problems!
According to the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, professional athletes [the people that you pay to watch because you tell yourself they are waaay better athletes than you could ever be], need only slightly more protein than the average person.

Increased protein use can lead to Osteoporosis and kidney stones due to the body using stored calcium – BONES – to remove the KETONES created by this glut of protein. Ketones are created when here is too much protein in the body and this is turned into a particularly acidic fat. The kidneys then signal the body to drain water in order to help eliminate this, as you know the body is very specific about maintaining its Ph Balance. Anything that interferes with this is eliminated as best as the body is able. When the body is unable to eliminate excesses of pH disrupting matter in the body, you get cancers, depression etc. These ketones are also responsible for high levels of uric acid which in turn can lead to gout.
As your body releases water to help the now overworked kidneys get rid of these ketones, your heart begins to be overworked as you start to become dehydrated. Less water, your blood becomes more viscous and thereby causes your heart to work double time just to keep things going. Its this “less water” that initially gets people stoked on the high protein diet, when in fact, its complete nonsense. You arent losing fat, you’re losing water weight, its a red herring [means youre on the wrong path], and a serious condition as you are made up of 80 percent water!
As you are damaging the kidneys, we must remember you are losing calcium, ergo, weaker bones, inhibited ability for blood clotting, weakened teeth, poor nerve health and ironically weakened muscle function!
If this weren’t enough, unfortunately it is only the beginning. Most of you reading this are eating meat and dairy, both of which are very high in saturated fats. In doing so, you now open up your body for a wide range of potential cancers, including but not limited too – breast cancer, endometrial cancer, colon cancer and kidney cancer. Saturated fat is the fat that stays solid at room temperature, 98.5 is considered room temperature, thats your bodies normal operating temp. Reflect on that if you will…
Irregularity which lasting for a long period of time can lead to hemorrhoids and diverticulitis, a condition that forms little spaces or pockets along the intestinal walls where food can then get lodged and cause inflammation as it rots in your intestinal tract.

Further still are the effects of fatigue, poor memory, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure and liver problems.

When you have a diet which is high in protein from saturated fats, you now run the risk of obesity. Obesity carries with it an entire spectrum of difficulties, diseases and symptoms, none of which you need and if you are dealing with them now, I would strongly urge you to change your diet and start exercising. it took time for you to get to the point that you are suffering, and it will take time for you to reap the rewards of a healthy lifestyle. If you never change your lifestyle, you will never start the clock to a new you. Its not rocket science, don’t ever let anyone convince you it is, you may have complications and pains that are unimaginable to the average person, BUT, you simply need to get on a different track. Of course, deal with whatever acute symptoms you now have, as well as changing your lifestyle so that you will never have them again.

Lastly, by having a diet which is composed of high protein from meat or dairy, you will usually find your self full and will opt out of fruits, nuts, vegetables, and whole grains. In doing so you open your self to a slew of secondary problems which will be looked at in other articles. Lack of dietary fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, minerals etc etc etc etc…

In many cases, it is too much protein, especially when derived from animal by products, that causes us trouble.

You will recieve enough protein in your diet if you simply eat a variety of fruits, nuts, grains and vegetables, IF they are grown with a sound mind for ecology and growing food for consumption by human beings. i.e. ORGANIC…

When organic vegetables are in your sites, ensure that they are varied in color and variety, you are almost sure to be on the right track for eating and receiving all you need. Including adequate amounts of protein for your daily Gym, Bike, etc workouts. It is when you start to go to the multiple hour exercise that this changes, more on that a little later in the article, for now, please bear with me, we are getting somewhere and I do have a plan!

Now, you ask yourself why is this gentleman, if I may be as so bold, espousing the Organic, is he on the USDA payroll!?! I assure you I am not, for that to happen I would have had to work at Monsanto which I will never do in a thousand lifetimes though hell be my other option… sigh.

The reason for me focusing on organic is this, when you begin to change this diet to be comprised of foods grown in commercial/industrial both large and small, you begin to lose vitamin and mineral content, not to mention over all quality which will diminish the bodies ability to assimilate the protein which this article is focused on, resulting in malnutrition even though you eat large quantities of it. Example, I water down my gasoline, even though I completely fill the tank, my car will run like s%$t and eventually break down. Exact same process here with different ingredients. You are the car, the gas is your food, watering down the gas is growing your food in a large scale commercial farm.
I am speaking now about farms that use non-organic compounds when dealing with insects, weeds, and fertilizers for growth. Sprays, gasses, when you see the guys/gals spraying fertilizer, but they are dressed in the space suits. Again, not rocket science, if you cant safely touch it, well, what in gods name says you should then eat it!

In using these methods to grow your food, there are HUGE breakdowns in the vitality of the food itself, it becomes sick if you will and in return, the avaible and clean energy available to you and your body diminishes exponentially. Further, your body now has to do double duty and not only digest food, BUT, it now has to separate the good stuff from petro chemicals which are toxic poison for living organisms, thats why you see dead animals all over the place whenever there is an oil spill, same stuff, different package. Im not kidding with you, I just took the time to do research, you should to, again, don’t believe anyone, believe what YOU LEARN!

Further processing such as bleaching (rice, wheat – Wonder Bread), then adding vitamins and minerals due to thier having been stripped away by some part of the process as is the case with cereals and many wheat, corn, etc products, you get some downright toxic substances being now passed as food. But wait you say!, they’ve added vitamins and minerals, we should be all good to go. At first glance yes, then you dig an inch and find a mine of information. For instance, in this article by the folks at Food Matters, we find you get more nutrition from the box!

Of course many of you are now thinking, why, this man is mad, off his rocker, we have a Gov’t who’s sole responsibility is to protect its people! While that is the intended function of our Gov’t, it no longer holds true, there are so many examples of this, i cannot begin to hope to write them all for you, so instead, I will show you a simple diagram which represents the current position and past position in the company MONSANTO of many extremely key Gov’t positions. if you do not know about the company Monsanto, please do some basic research. I will be writing an article soon though I wish I didnt have to. Suffice to say, they are one of the very few corporations in the world that I would consider actually evil. They have stated, and it is public knowledge, that they wish to, and I quote “control the worlds food”. So, our diagram and why you really need to learn what is best for yourself and not rely on the government. I am speaking in regards to the subject matter in this article ONLY as it pertains to your health, you want to rely on Gubmint for everything else, be my guest…

This is small, but if you click on it and use the zoom function, it is very clear, just a lot of info!

Further, when you cook foods, either the food like faxsimiles from large scale petro-chemical commercial farms OR organically grown, the cooking causes, for the most part, a breakdown in vitamins and in some cases the minerals. If your net vitamin, mineral content was already drastically reduced to begin with, then you can imagine, your stomach is the only thing that will be happy from a meal made from those foods. You will be getting nothing, youll be hungry just as soon as the body processes all that is in your gut. Why, because you didnt get what you needed! Many times this is the reason for over eating. You arent doing it becuase you are a pig or you have a problem, you are doing it because the food you have selected to eat is devoid of anything useable by the body, further, you still have to use resources to process it causing you to be that much more deficient and therefore more calorie starved! To understand this a bit better, the total energy taken from the food, must be equal to or more than the energy your body uses to digest it. If it is not, then you will be at a loss. Now picture your body as a business and everything you eat a customer. If every customer gives you a dollar, but it takes you two dollars just to get that customer in the door, how long will you stay in business? NOT ROCKET SCIENCE!

There are always of course exceptions in which foods are more easily assimilated through cooking. For instance Spinach with its Oxalic acid. If you don’t give spinach a quick heating, the Oxalic acid will prevent your body from absorbing many of its and any other food in the mixes nutrients! These are relatively rare and will provide you with some interesting facts to look for on your own. Knowledge = Power

Look through this and think about your food choices. Depending on the types of food you eat and the quality of those foods, you may have to seriously supplement. If the supplementation needed is serious enough, it may be necessary to adjust your diet until your body is able to balance it self so you can mess it up again. We are here to help you do that until you decide to make a change for your body permanently and at that point you’ll be on your way and no longer in need of us! There is no point over supplementing a bad diet. To go back to our car analogy, this would be like adding stop leak to your engine when you really need to overhaul it and change the seals. Stop leak is the supplements, the engine is you and over hauling the seals is changing your diet…

When choosing you supplementation there are key things to look for…

CHOOSE YOUR SUPPLEMENTS… WISELY!

Is it vegan/vegetarian formula or not containing animal byproducts?

Why this matters: many vegan vegetarian formulas are for people who are already buying based on a major diet deviation from the “norm”, in many cases, NOT ALL, this places a higher priority on quality. These people are usually more apt to read labels, buy organic… etc., you know, the stuff that matters if you’re trying to be in shape!

There are many levels of quality…

Is it organic?

This matters regardless of vegan or regular diet. If vegan, it merely means that you will have higher quality ingredients not polluted by chemicals that will harm your body.
If non vegan, it means your animal by-products will be pretty much hormone free and of a cleaner level. You will see this in Proteins using egg, Whey, etc. Based on what we know of factory farms, you do not want whey nor any product from a non organic free range farm. Free range means the animal was allowed to live, i.e. move around, before it died or gave up its babys food for you….

Further refining – is it fair trade?

This shows the company cares to a degree. At this point you can really start looking at the company. It is becoming more and more common that companies who perharps should not be making products to help you be healthy are using these labels as a mask… Do some research! Fair trade means that the company paid a fair price and didn’t rip off the farmer, gatherer of the products in the supplement – or food for that matter, Fair Trade is a label like Organic, it can be applied to many things.

What is written on the bottle?

What is written is what the company owner has decided will represent them to you. What is written are what they think of you…. Are you a sucker – 50 grams a serving!!! Your body cant even use that, 25gr roughly per sitting/serving. For a mammoth of a man, perhaps up to 70gr per day, at the most! So, they must not think highly of you and are trying to mislead you, OR they dont know which might probably be worse.

What kind of bottle is used, glass, plastic, what type of plastic?

What does it matter? Plastic, unless the right kind will have varying degrees of offgassing, especially when being
transported in a truck in the summer, the heat! This offgassing causes release of naughty stuff from the plastic which degrades the efficacy of your product, in essence you arent getting what you pay for. The higher faluting the quality, not showiness, but actual quality of the material used to package will give you insight into the quality of the company! If you are buying something that is specially formulated and this and that and scientific this and blah blah, but it is placed in a typical plastic container that offgasses and thereby destroys the viability of your product well, you learn something about the company! If they give you the best, it better be packed that way! – off gassing comes from the plastic slowly breaking down, as plastics do, and releasing toxins. Remember, plastic is a petro-chemical, the gasses go into the supplement, quality drops… fast.

Concern yourself with vitamins and minerals, the things that are responsible for your bodies processes, such as healing, growing, moving, living, breathing etc. And yes, muscle growth. A person must focus on the overall synergy of thier body depending on what result they want. I have met many pro weight lifters in my life. I have also had the fortune to meet a few pros who are now in thier older years and have had some discussions, they have some serious problems going on as a result of what they put thier bodies through during the hey day years. If you want that, go for it, but as they will tell you, through me, it is not worth it! You must remember that your body is an infinitely adaptable machine and it will sometimes take years for your mistreatment to show up, but when it does… too little too late…

Complete or incomplete proteins?

Do you know what thus means? A complete protein has all the necessary branch chain amino acids allowing our body to make what it needs to continue being your servant.

This is key. Research it for yourself.

Isolated Soy, Whey, Isolated Anything and is that Good or Bad?

Bad in so far as whenever something is isolated in regard to a “food”, and thats what we are talking about here, these are food supplements, you are taking them because you aren’t getting enough in your food. If you have the money, you will be getting your supplements made from foods, if you do not, yours will be chemical synthesis. Whether chemicaly synthsized or whole food, you never want to have an isolated soy or whey molecule if you can avoid it.

You strip away everything that gives it synergy. The same is true for vitamins when they are chemically synthesised. Synergy is what allows your organism [body] to fully use a vitamin.

This is the Holistic way of looking at the body, as a whole, one thing affects another.

That being said, when we look at science, and I base this on research done at PubMed. This site is scientific papers and nothing more, the “science” behind it all. From these works, govermental regulation agencies give the OK for things or not. Now, this MUST be taken with a grain of salt as there are many instances in our history up to today where scientific findings are surpressed. I am not saying that there is anything of the sort happening with this particular aspect…

So, according to the experts, the scientists, no problems. One thing that did stand out is that soy tested far better for far more various controls than whey or casein. Casein is found in milk as is whey, but they can be separated and often are as thier properties are different. This is a lot of information, so for the purpose of this articles and not turning this into a text book, soy out tested both as mentioned before.

With the advent of Monsanto, we now have another very tricky item to look at and if you are a woman, it would seem very seriously indeed! Monsanto is the leader in genetically modified organisms, that is to say that they take, well, they take soy and modify it so it is resistant to its weed killer Round-Up, Have you heard of Round Up ready plants? The farmer is then able to grow his plants and spray copious amounts of this round up, and lets for a moment be clear on things – The Farmer is required to do if this if the farmer buys the seed from Monsanto, and there really isnt any where else to buy the seed if you are a farmer in the US or the EU – so you spray a ton of the stuff and the plant is fine, it has been genetically altered to not be hurt by the chemical…. But that it absorbs… You see, as you are what you eat, so is a plant. It absorbs everything from the environment around it. This is why you don’t want vegetables grown near a nuclear waste site or any toxic area. Which is so confounding as roundup is an extremely toxic chemical that, as mentioned earlier, when sprayed is done so by people in space suits! Now if you are to avoid contact with the chemical, even the one that you would personally buy from a local hardware or farm/garden shop, it is explicit in its safety instructions, you don’t want to be near it. When I lived in Hawaii I used it, ONCE, unfortunately a very big wind came and blew all the spray back onto me, over the next few hours, my temperature skyrocketed, I felt like I had the flu, my joints ached, I couldn’t eat and my day ended early. Never used it again.

Further, new GMO crops come pre-set with the chemical making genes inside them, they can create the chemicals responsible for bursting embryonic sacs and reproductive organs in female insects, whats good for the goose, unfortunately is good for the gander. It has been shown in studies by Russian scientists that by the third generation, rats are unable to produce offspring. Rats as you know are used because thier size and physionomgy allow us to see what would happen to humans under the same stresses in a a period of 30 to 90 days which in human terms would be years. So it is now being found that women are having tremendous troubles with GMO crops.

90 percent of the soy grown in the US is GMO, unless your protein supplement says organic, you WILL be getting GMO, you dont want that.

As for men, erectile disfunction, loss in libido, mood swings, hey, its like getting the benefits of long term steroid use!

One very important note to remember is that an excess of protein will eventually cause problems as stated earlier in this article. If you did not read it, I would suggest that you do=]

What is your Energy Expenditure?

Unless you are working out very hard, you will most likely not need a supplement. Most gains in a gym come from the actual exercise, that people get results AND they happen to be taking a supplement, many times is coincidental. In thier minds, they tell themselves its due to the supplementation, in actuality, it is merely doing more than you would on a daily basis. Now, if the diet isnt right, then yes, the supplementation is definitely a help. If your diet is on track, then supplements may not be doing a lot for you and may be slowly taxing your system in the long term.

THAT BEING SAID… Many peoples diets are far from on track. Many people who think they have an on track diet based on eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds and grains are being lied to as GMO crops, commercial farming and other practices have reduced the nutrition content of the foods. Perhaps the shoppers who buy 100 percent organic and have studied diet and know rules of thumb like, eat fruit by itself, etc. are doing O.K.

As stated earlier, Athletes are the true beneficiaries of protein supplementation and they use it sparingly. When you get to a certain point, you look at your body as a pure machine, too much is just as bad as too little, you need to find your personal synergistic precision!

Do you work out alot, are you sedentary? Again, energy in versus energy out. Do you burn as much as you take in? Does your body have to expend energy to process calories which it will then merely have to rid itself of or turn to fat? All of this factors in to you becoming the ninja you wish to see in the world.

Ask yourself this… When you tell me how physically demanding your job is, is that because it is, or because you are at a health level where climbing too many stairs is a daunting task?
Next ponder this… If you still insist and you do physical labor at your work, do you do it rightly, do you focus on what yor are doing and do all those little things like lift from the knees, keep your spine straight, breath with your movements etc..?

If after all of this you say yes, you are the ninja warehouse worker, well, then maybe protein is in your future, but if you are the worker lifting poorly, digging without soul, etc., first fix the problem then you can reasses if you need protein.

All of this to say, if you are not healthy in your eating habits, change them before you consider adding protein.
Instead, go with supplementation. Vitamins and minerals. Focus on beng healthy before being stronger. Focus on getting them from food, real actual organic food, the stuff your grandparents use to eat because thats all thier was. Focus on the long term and in the short term, the healthiest person is the strongest.

Like this:

Surgeries for many of us will be an unavoidable part of our lives, for whatever reason. Many friends may say it could be avoided through this and by doing that, etc. We are not going to discuss the many different ways a person can be healed, what we will discuss here in a very basic format is the best way to help the body through the process you have chosen to undergo.
Lets review the basics first. Can we agree that you are what you eat? Once we agree on this it makes it much easier to continue. Should you be having trouble at this point, lets digress for a moment and look at the bigger picture of your corpus.
It is made up of what? As you may or may not know, you are constantly gaining and losing cells, all throughout your body. You may have heard that every seven years you are a new person. Daily you change over your blood anew, hair, liver, bone, constantly in flux. Where do the building blocks for this come from? Is it magic dust sprinkled by the Sandman as you slumber? Of course not, Its from the food you eat, you know this! The end result is then based on the “materials” used. For instance, think of a house, no, a temple, yes, think of a temple. Look at the buildings around you today that are built in a cheap quick fashion, how long before they start to decay, concrete cracking, roof in need of replacing etc. Now think back to the pictures you seen depicting the gothic cathedrals, made with bricks of blue stone, timbers of solid Oak, hand made leaden glass…. Still standing! As with buildings, as with anything, the end result is a direct compliment to the materials used.
Once you are able to accept this, even though an apple may fall far below your tolerance of acceptable when it lights upon your taste buds, it is far superior to the Cheetos Extra Flavor Bold Impact 3000 cheesy twisty pops. Thats a very simple fact.
Now, in your daily life, you may feel free to eat these as you will, though a case could be made for many of the surgeries people get resulting from said diet, but, as noted earlier, we will keep to the subject at hand, your surgery, or recovery depending upon when you or a friend found this.
Prior to surgery eat healthy foods to prepare body for surgery. This is basic wisdom for you should you choose to read no farther. Eat foods where you can readily and easily identify the ingredients, better, that you can actually picture what they look like and MORE IMPORTANTLY that you can picture the process it went through to get to your mouth. Salt for instance. very easy to picture salt being mined, its mined, or collected from evaporation pools. Easy to see it being shipped to and fro, being packaged and then being shipped again, this is your food you know, long trip to your tummy! What isnt so easy to imagine is the complex process in which sea salt is turned into conventional table salt. This is a process in which ALL other minerals and errant vitamins are stripped from the salt until it is simply sodium chloride, then, Iodine is added. Many of us do not get the iodine we need and this was a way to supplement that and thereby avoid many nasty problems in both children and adults.
That being said, why do they strip all the minerals from it in the first place?
Of course, this is not the point Im trying to make, my point is this, stick to sea salt which has been shown in many, BUT NOT ALL [we are looking for truth, not propaganda] tests to be far superior for your body.
Now picture sugar. This will usually start as a “cane” or large bamboo like stick that you can chew on and that my dad who grew up in haiti would tell me stories about the guys who would chew it until their teeth become like a little animals, sharp and small…. creepy mental images aside, it is a natural thing and has vitamins minerals and enzymes. When you close your eyes you can see the slave labor working for hours on end in Florida with little pay and horrific conditions, occasionally lopping off part of the leg as they must work very fast in heat, for hours, so, mistakes happen, as they are illegal immigrants, oft times from Cuba, lose a leg, BUMMER, Again, I digress, you can picture the process. What you cannot picture is the process in which, again as with the salt, everything of value is stripped. Molasses, that thick as Molasses running down a hill in winter, that comes from the byproducts of separating the good stuff from the sugar cane. You get Molasses and white refined sugar.
Refined salt and sugar are two of the worse things you can have in your diet…. just so you know. Thats a brief idea on what I mean by picturing the process as a way to discern what will be of most value for you to put into your body.
Another would be to picture a vegetable grown by an organic farmer and the same veggie grown by a commercial farm which uses petro-chemical fertilizers and insecticides. In the organic instance, it is easy to picture composting, sewing and reaping etc. In the commercial farm, it is very difficult to picture the process that oil, the same stuff that is turned into gas to make your car go, is turned into fertilizer to make your plants grow… Whats funny is how many of the fertilizers and the test seeds [GMO CROPS] we have seen while riding, the logos look like something to do with race cars… HA!
So eat what you know, what seems to be MOST REAL, and without further ado, we will now start to refine that list of foods to give you a more concise map of your diet over the next however long until you are back and fit as a fiddle!
As your food intake will most likely be restricted, this is a common practice prior to surgeries, start now by drinking and getting used to drinking plenty of water leading up to surgery day. While this seems like a no brainer, many people do not actually drink a lot of water. They drink things made with water, but that is not the same. W A T E R. Get used to it, you are made out of it, in fact 80 percent of you is water.
Get a lot of good fats as they will help your body maintain energy during the just prior, during and after phase of your surgery when you aren’t ingesting anything… examples are – avocados, chia, hemp seed, lots of nuts and seeds. Omega 3 and Omega 6 are very important in your daily life and especially during this time, so make sure to get them in proper amounts! Good question, what are the proper amounts…
Optimal is 1 to 1 through 4 to 1 – Omega 6 to Omega 3. Most of you are probably getting 20 to 1. This is not good as it creates a serious imbalance and usually shows up as depression, fatigue, sleeplessness, constipation, joint pain, frequent colds, inability to concentrate, fatigue, dry and itchy skin, lack of endurance and many more I am sure, we simply don’t know because, well, theres so much to know and we spend much of our time fighting, so we never get around to true mastery of the important stuff!
Now, where to get it from – for the Omega Threes, or written in a cool way – Ω3z, HA! – sorry, here they are…

As for the Omega 6’s, you probably have enough in your diet and didn’t even know it. For instance, leafy vegetables, seeds, nuts, grains and vegetable oils (corn, safflower, soybean, cottonseed, sesame, and sunflower) all contain Omega 6.

Your diet should be composed of more vegetables and fruit, than meat and dairy. Once surgery is done, this diet should be maintained for maximum healing.

Why?

Dairy taxes your digestive system and immune systems. In fact dairy causes as immuno response, you simply dont need this at this time. Should you feel the desire for dairy, go with replacements to cow milk. There are coconut, rice, almond, soy, oat and those are off the top of my head, hemp, all of these are milks that not only taste great, but the health benefits for the human body are light years ahead of the effects of cow milk on a human. Obviously for a baby cow they are great, but thats the rub isnt it, you arent cows. The human body simply is not designed for it, which is why it comes from a cow, cows are designed for it, Humans are designed to drink milk from a womans breast for the formative years, as are all other mammals which are designed to drink mothers milk, and then you stop. Once you stop, you begin to get your calcium from fruits and vegetables, as do all other mammals. You are a mammal in case you forgot, you are no more or less than another. The same rules apply to you as to a Gorilla or a Dog. Beware the ego and the Washington Lobbyist that would have you think otherwise! Yes I know that famous people are in “got milk” ads, but Olympic athletes are in McDonalds ads, so, feel free to stow that argument before you burn my ears with it. You have a brain, it is your gift from what or whomever to you, it is the one thing which allows you to be at the top or the bottom, use it and listen to your wisdom and you shall be at the top, blindly follow what others tell you, and you are lost. Even with anything you read on this site, go out and find as many other sources of info and decide for yourself. we promote the advancement of the human as a way to save our species, that cannot happen unless YOU personally begin thinking for yourself about hat is good for you.

Further, there are creamers, ice creams, anything you can think of is currently made from plants, and that it doesn’t involve blood, lawsuits and the butchering of baby cows, well, thats something isnt it!

Again, do this diet for when your body is at its weakest and then go back to what shakes your shaker, i just find it odd that when a human gets to be at their absolute sickest, usually, western medicine puts them on a diet that restricts meat and dairy…. of course another way to say this would be vegan, but hey, slow and steady…

Why no meat…?

Meat is a heavy burden on your system as it is difficult to digest, it may be a cause of other problems during the course of your treatment as well as much of it is full of antibiotics and hormones. Our beloved scientific community has shown that this decreases medicines effectiveness as your body may be constantly humming along with low doses of antibiotics at any given time. One of the side effects of that is a seriously crippled immune system. If someone is going to be cutting you open, that is not the time for a seriously crippled immune system. There is also the heavy burden on the liver, kidneys and other waste management systems of the body. As anyone who has been around a trash strike in a city, this is very bad in a human body, especially during surgery.

In addition meat carries a high amount of andrenaline due to the butchering process, obviously right, if someone was gonna butcher you, post psycho killing analysis of your meat would show elevated levels of all kinds of chemicals that are not there in daily life, the same is true for the cow or pig, or chicken or fish or etc. Your body recognizes this and releases its own adrenaline as a result, not conduscive to healing! Adrenaline has been passed down through the generations as way to get out of very sketchy situations by giving you Ninja Hulk like power OR giving you Flash Gordon speed, it should not be tapped into because you are eating a Double burger with fries and cola.

Whether or not you are vegan is of little consequence to my day. Truly. I do what I do, and am happy to have you do the same. I do know for a fact that the less meat and dairy in your system during this time of healing will be for your benefit. It is now an undisputed fact, yes, of course if you are part of some nomadic tribe on or about the arctic circle, this will not apply, if you are reading this and are a member of such a tribe, you dont have to read this as you are lightyears ahead of me! If you are reading this from a coffee shop in Brookly, dont give me the tribal comeback about meat, it doesnt apply to you! My goal is for you to heal as quickly as possible with the most basic items, most easily and most cost effectively available to you.
In daily life try and keep your calories to a respectable amount based on your activity, no matter what you choose to have your diet consist of, do it responsibly. Apparently the US has an obesity epidemic, strangest thing… Whole ‘nother story for a whole ‘nother day…

The food you are eating must be processed by the body, if you overeat this is more energy your body must expend simply to get rid of it, makes no sense as this is less energy that can be used for healing. Remember the energy in must be equal too or more than energy expended to process the food, if not it is like a company paying two dollars just to make a dollar, wont last long.

Extra weight will also make it more difficult for you to engage in your rehabilitaion program. If you had surgery, this will affect your whole body as any extra weight will merely instensify this burden on the healing process of any part of the body, gravity isnt picky, it will do its very best to pull the whole thing down!

If you are lying in a bed, you dont need as much food, you simply do not, further, over eating will be very easy during this time. Remember the water you were chugging prior to surgery, now is the time to keep it going, your are used to it and it helps for many reason more than just appetite control. You will need the water to speed the healing process, remember when I talked about you being made of water, picture yourself as various size bathtubs all contained in one large bathtub, every level of your body is bathtubs, cells, cells come together to make organs etc. At the basis of all that, the cell is full of……

W A T E R !

You will need to keep that water as clean as possible as every function your body engages in creates waste, i.e. your bath water is dirtied!

Have food brought to you as most hospital food is very poor in quality! There are countless studies of hospital food and the results are abysmal. Truly, makes no sense to me, one of the primary things a hospital is there fore is to house doctors in an arena to make you, the patient well. All doctors must take a Hippocratic oath to make you, the patient well. Did you kow one of Hippocrates most famous saying is – Let food be thy medicine and they medicine be thy food.

So what went wrong? No matter, let them figure it out, meanwhile you make sure to donate all your meals to your room partner who didnt read this and you get your food from OUTSIDE of the hospital. If you are a single person with no friends or family, pay a nurse or orderly, show them this and be well my friend!

Other very important vitamins to look for in your food and where they can be found…

• Vitamin C helps your body to form collagen (Collagen is a protein needed for strength and flexibility; it repairs tendons and ligaments and strengthens bones.) The concentration of vitamin C in your body decreases when your body is under stress. Stress also increases urine losses of vitamin C. Surgery = Stress! Citrus is a great place for these, oh hey, wait a minute, thats where we get the Omega 3’s. Its almost like… well, no, not now… Kiwi, oranges, grapefruits, bell peppers, cantaloupes, guava if its around, and strawberries. Go for organic especially during this time and especially with some of these fruits, if you have never seen them be sprayed for bugs in real life, the guys spraying walk around in space suits, and then you eat it. I don’t get it and neither should you. if you are into super foods, go for the Goji berries, again, go organic, trust us…

• To heal, your body needs vitamin A for cell growth and development, bone development, and to help immune function. Again the cantaloupe, carrots, apricots, kale – KALE is pretty much ninja food, eat it daily and things will go well for you, if you can, chew it A LOT, try to chew it for as many years as you have been alive [thats a common answer whenever THEY interview people who have lived to be a ripe old age], papaya, mango, broccoli…

•Copper, Manganese and Zinc are involved in wound healing. Copper and zinc can e found in many seeds and beans – sesame, soy, sunflower, garbanzo [hummus!], pumpkin [especially good to help put lead in the pencil for guys if you catch my drift], etc. I love etc, its my way of saying, research more to become smarter and break the chains of bondage!

Manganese – lots of the same as above and now we get into spinach, brown rise, spelt, chihuahua nostril hairs ……………………………… just checking if you’re with me, rye, pineapple… Etcetera!

When supplementing, do your very best to get these vitamins and minerals from food! Studies are showing more and more that synthetically derived forms of the same vitamins and minerals lack synergy needed to actually work in the body and instead use the bodies valuable energy to work to rid itself of the very thing you are thinking is helping! UNLESS, you go with a great company that charges a whole lot for a cold pressed whole food vitamin that also takes its packaging into consideration as off gassing from plastic destroys the content of the valuable vitamins in the vitamins! Tough world, do your research and its gets easier….

One of the most important and often overlooked issues is that of the patients mood. As you may imagine, unless you have a very strong willed person, depression will usually set in. Of course it will, you are in a hospital, getting cut into or irradiated or whatever it is you are having done, chances are you will get secondary illnesses, no freinds, nothing cuddly, cold, steel, tons of other peoples germs, surrounded by sickness and death, getting woken at ALL HOURS by morons with needles wanting to draw blood fishing around in your arm looking for a vein at 3am and giggling to themselves like you arent in the room… totally understandable you are depressed, I got depressed writing that and remembering when I was last in one!

ergo, it is important to Take note of the mental attitude of the patient and treat this as well as the physical aspect.

Two main points to remember are this: YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT! So eat good food and you get good results.

The state of the body starts in the mind, beware depression on the road to recovery and treat it with the same conviction as if you were treating a secondary infection!

Remember these key facts, the Hippocratic oath, under which Hippocrates said, let food be thy medicine and they medicine be thy food.

You are what you eat – real important that one….

Energy in, energy out, does what you eat take more energy to process than it gives? If so, dont eat it!

Are your vitamins and minerals coming from a natural source, or are they synthetic?

Your attitude is FUNDAMENTAL to your recovery!

You are on the road to being well, whatever happens is OK, if you have any questions, want moral support, just wanna say Aloha, we are here. We dont always have an internet connection, but when we do, we are here for you, and even when we arent around, we still care for all of you deeply as thats what matters. The planet and all living things on it.

This is a story about my personal weight loss journey and mild details of my life surrounding the event. If you would rather skip the narrative and get to the weight loss ideas, scroll down closer to the end of the story, they will be waiting for you there… or maybe they wont, maybe part of the problem is not paying attention to the journey and instead looking for the quick fix..=]

Six years, thats what I tell people. I cant be fully sure as my memory has become an odd sort of sieve. Some events are clear as day, though for the life of me I cant tell you within five years which day they would have fallen on!

It was at a time when my first marriage was taking an unholy toll on my mind, coupled with the stress of healthclub sales from 24 Hour Fitness, I was a menace to my body.

Soda, beer, cigarettes, fries dipped in Mayo near daily, burgers, many times weighing in a half pound or full pound burgers, some times McDonalds cheesburger Sunday eating contests with the other health club sales crew…

I was a wreck, one of the few things that helped me during that time was probably the excess smoking of weed as it allowed for serious stress reduction which at the time, well, with my lifestyle, even at 25 I was a superb candidate for a heart attack.

My day consisted of waking at 5.30, quick breakfast of something or other that had little to do with food followed by a 1 and a half hour drive in LA traffic to my health club. I was an asst. manager for 24 Hour Fitness and worked both in the city of LA and the valley, many clubs, including the Sherman Oaks sport club which was dedicated to Magic Johnson. Yes he worked out there every morning and yes, he was a very cool guy.

I was a great salesman, my home life was in such a state of disrepair that I was never there, i spent most of my time at the gym, and ended up being top salesman for the company. I find it all hilarious as I was clocking in at 285 pounds by this point. one of my best sales was to look the person in the eye and say, “You don’t want to end up like me do you?”. Sadly, they saw I was speaking from the heart and most of the time joined, which I guess is a good thing as long as they used it.

Now, so far we can see that my attitude was not in the right place for health. I was in a few situations that I fet were counter everything to me, and since I did nothing about them, my ego kicked in and began to compensate for me. I began substituting momentary pleasures for an actual life I would be proud of. I sank my sorrow in the bottle [both alcohol AND soda, soda probably the worse of the two] and in the food, the cigarettes tied it all together for me and for 4 years I pretended to be happy.

One day, a change happened. Im not sure exactly how or why, perhaps it was waking up to low back pain from which I would have to go late to work so i could lie i the bathtub to sooth the muscle spasms. I was that big that simply sleeping caused me pain.

One day, I cracked. I enlisted the aid of a personal trainer whom I was good freinds with and we went to my house during a lunch break and stole back my bed. At this point we were living in a two bedroom apartment and werent even sharing a bed any longer…. the bed had become a symbol of sorts for me, everything else be damned, but the bed was coming with me.

We go the bed, I moved in with another lady which is the beginning of another incredibly interesting story, with a much more tragic end and yet… lessons would be learned from this relationship as well, but Im losing our focus arent I? What I want to focus on for this part of my life is the one that brought you to the story, my weight and where it all went.

In leaving my relationship, even though i got directly into another, a part of me, on the inside, woke uo. It was this part that began to care for what was happening to the body I was living in.

The first thing to go was the soda. Soda was an addiction like no other for me, loved the stuff, Id gobble it up all day long, and I did. I would only stop in the evenings when I switched to beer!

Dropping soda alone for one month took off roughly TWENTY POUNDS! I was still drinking beer, still am to this day, drinking one right now as soon as i walk away from the computer to open a new one….

hang on…

And we have sudsy alcohol water…

Soda, its a killer, plain and simple. No one can tell me otherwise as I have lived in a pre and post soda body.

SECKRIT 1 – LET GO YOR ADDICTION TO CLEVERLY BRANDED SUGAR WATER. if you want to lose weight, drink water, A LOT, everyday, and nothing else. Drink at least 1 gallon a day. You are made of water. You have little pods of water, in bigger pods of water, floating around in water all contained in a sac made mostly of little pods of water. Picture yorself as a bathtub carrying many little bathtubs. All day, everyday, simple routine life begins dirtying all these tubs of water. if you do not put clean water in the system…. You do understand dont you? if you do not, please email me – chrisbornstein@yahoo.com. Want a cool thing to show yourself and the kiddies, put a piece of meat in a glass of soda and check it out at 24, 48, 72 hours later, then, if things haven’t gone to foul, check it one last time at the end of 7 days… You can also put in bone, teeth, anything that would represent what we are made out of and be prepared for a big surprise….

Water is key. Back to the story…

There I am 20 pounds lighter for having done nothing but switching my drinking habits. My mind begin to whirl and buzz and I thought, wat if I change my eating habits!?! Before I lose any of you, let me say clearly and specifically, I LOST ALL THIS WEIGHT WITHOUT BEING VEGAN OR VEGETARIAN! This change would come much later in my life and would be such a radical change that I am still doing it 6 years later and will not go back. That, is another story for another time. Keep calm, we have recipes and ideas for veganism and plant based diets if you want them, I am writing this story for those of you who have a diet like I had, one that was full of powdered donuts, large coffees from the green mermaid with more sugar than soda and more calories than a small pizza. This is for those of you who feel trapped and despondent. I say to you this, you have two options, hit rock bottom and climb, or trust in those that have gone before you and climb before you hit bottom. if I had to do it all over again, well, I would keep it the same, I hit the bottom and it is only because of that I say to you, START CLIMBING…. N O W!

The next changes were small. I would choose leaner meat from the grocery store eventually doing away with red meat almost entirely, I would focus on chicken and fish. Meat still made up a majority of my diet and no great gains or losses were made at this time, but for one very important one. Due to the stoke I was feeling fro the loss of weight i started, DOH, working out! Imagine that, gym membership guy working out…. Sigh, I have made my road so impossibly difficult at times….=]

The work outs were key in the weight loss arena. While what you eat is of PRIME import, moving is nearly of equal import, you know, its like choosing children, cant be done. You are what you eat [everyone], and, If you dont run you rust [Tom petty and the Heartbreakers]. They go hand in hand, to separate them is to lie to yourself. I remember when I was a paperboy, eons ago, and one gentleman stands out in my memory, still stands out to this day. I remember him walking, Im not sure when he first came up on my radar, but he was big, a very big dude. I would see him walking early in the mornings and late in the afternoons. a focused sort of walking, not just out for a stroll, really on it. He basically just slimmed before my eyes over the months, I have no idea what his diet was, but his exercise of choice was walking, just a thought for some of you!

SECKRIT 2 – Start Moving Simply walking with a focused intention will be a huge beginning for most of us as we set out to slim down, but most importantly, to be healthy. This leads us to Sekrit 3 or perhaps 2a… Whatever you decide to do, you must begin moving. I recommend a martial art, yoga, something organized at first until you can stand on your own two feet so to speak. Having people to train with and people who are knowledgeable will be key in your beginning stages. Always make sure that the person you are training with knows what they are talking about from personal experience. Do not put your health into the hands of anyone who has not done and knows very well, what you are attempting. Bruce Lee recommends a 2 mile JOG everyday. James Bnd and Batman wake up and do push ups and sit ups first thing. Some guy I knew in South Beach Miami would do push ups whenever he was doing nothing, waiting for his girl while shes trying on a dress – push ups, heating water on the stove for tea – push ups… there are many little things you can do to help you with your ultimate aim. Focus on your posture, how your feet hit the ground hen you walk, everything adds up to who you are becoming…

SEKRIT 2a or 3 [depending on your bulleting system], Lose weight Healthy style: Lose weight not to look great, lose it to be healthy and live a quality life. When the focus is put on simply looks, this in and of itself is already an unhealthy way of looking at the task at hand as it lends itself to petty ways of thought which are ego driven, this will always fail in the long run. Your goal is best served by being healthy. I cannot emphasize this enough! There are myriad body types on this planet, silly you who seeks to look like another! Better to seek the apex of fitness your body and ego will allow. Focus on eating the highest quality foods, reduce meat and dairy as much as you are able as all scientific data shows us that plant based nutrition is infinitely more valuable and that meat and dairy actually inhibit many of your bodies complex systems and promote disease. After all, why is it that the sickest people are put on a vegan diet…? Even Conventional Western medicine sees the light when you come closest to it as well! Bad joke, but true story. The sicker you are, the more likely your doctor will finally, as a last dicth method, prescribe essentially a vegan diet, they wont call it that, they will simply tell you what you cant have – no meat, no diary… hmmmmmmmm, they have a word for a diet like that=]

Back to my story…

Im losing weight very slowly, but steadily, thats the key, slow and steady will what… win this! One reason the actual weight loss seems slow, is that when combined with a strength program, you will be gaining a lot of muscle in the beginning, muscle weighs a lot more than fat in that it is roughly 18 times the density. Keep this in mind and do not allow yourself to be discouraged!

At this point, I began to increase the amount of vegetable intake in relation to my meat intake. The veggies went way up. In doing this I began to have an easier time when I used the toilet and noticed more leanness to my body. My eyes got brighter, head cleared a bit and I was now down to 205 to 210, thats a 70-80 pound loss! Further, I dropped refined sugar and refined salt. Later i would find out that dropping these two things from your diet allow your body infinitely greater health as they are two of the most destructive things a human can ingest!

Lets review where I am at now in my story some 4 years after the start. Veggie intake is equal or more than meat intake. Meat intake has been scaled back to white meats – fish and chicken primarily. No more Soda, refined sugar or salt and I am now reading labels for any ingredients I do not know the meaning of or have been forewarned about and dropping them from my diet. For instance, when I learned about hydrogenated and partially hydrogenated oils, especially in one of my favorite foods, peanut butter. Dropped the JIF and went natural. Tip for those of you who haven’t gone natural peanut butter due to having to stir the oils in… A. get unlazy quick, its your body fool! and B. turn the can on it’s side or upside down overnight and half the stirring will be done for you!

SECKRIT 3…Dont eat things if you dont understand the ingredients that they are made from. You dont need it in your body. Your tongue may tell you that it is necessary, but this is nearly always wrong if you do some basic thinking when eating. If it is a long name that seems more at home in a chemistry book than a food label, why eat it. If it is something common that you know to be bad, MSG, artificial color, artificial flavor, sugar, salt, hydro and partially hydrogenated oils etc. Do not eat! Do some research on what food is made out of and what those various things do to your body. Act like you care about the thing [your body] that allows you to experience life and you just may end up saving yourself!

You are a natural organism. I promise, god as my witness, you WILL operate better if you are eating a diet that is made from the most organic, local food you can find. Further, the less meat and more fruits, vegetables, grains and seeds you consume the better still! Eliminating Cow dairy from your diet will lead you to better health yet! Its all dependent upon how strict you want to be with yourself and what kind of results you want.

Story, at about this point in my life, we are on or about year 5 of my weight loss. At this point I decided to do away with drugs, I was using cocaine and was not cool with it, it wasn’t right and to this day i tell people that the reason I quit is because I woke u on the beach and didn’t know who or where I was. Sadly, I don’t even know if this happened. I have a whole chunk of time that is relegated to faded snap shots and confused and overlapping memories and dreams… At the same time ~I began studying buddhism, not in a formal way, in my way, reading many books by contemporary monks, monks of old and stories of punk rocker mayhem raisers turned to the dharma path…. Two of the most important books for me at this time were the “Tao Te Ching” by Lao Tsu and the “Tao of Pooh”, by Benjamin Hoff

I left my marriage, the second one at this point and moved to LA, then SF and then Australia to be a lifeguard at a water park. By now I was fairly steady at 210 with a solid mass of muscle. I would do my random push ups and pull ups, random pull ups are great as they force you to use all sorts of things you ordinarily wouldn’t [ledges, walls, etc.], thereby greatly increasing your hand strength. I began my first forays into barefoot running and long distance running and got heavily into weights and lifting.

The apex and grand culmination of this would occur a year or so after leaving Australia and finding myself on the Big Island of Hawaii. Due to an “accident”; I drove halfway around the Island to check out a guitar for my 31st B-day and upon arrival at the house, i was met with people asking me why my transmission was dumping its fluid down thier driveway. My response was who are all you people.

They repsonded, “we’re a vegan commune and you can stay with us but you have to eat what we eat.”

They turned out to be Gentle World, the makers of the first vegan cook book, I stayed with them for three months and have been vegan for over 6 years now. This is the end of my story. It took a very long time. I had to be willing to change and let go of things that gave me great comfort. Many things, from foods to drinks, to relationships to geographical locations, jobs, I had to change who i was as a person in order to find the happiness that would allow me to be myself. Who I am is not a fat guy when happy. Im a healthy guy, when I get sad, I feel the inexorable pull to eat unhealthy and do things that are “bad” for me. I have learned and simply deal with my unhappiness and not compound the issue by hurting my body for the sake of my ego.

I do still drink alcohol, not in the copious amounts that I used to, trying to forget each day so that I could face a new one, but it is still there. Someday, perhaps I shall do away with it permanently, until then, well, no worries here=] I like marijuana when it appears, do your research on it and decide for yourself, make sure to garner many resources in your search, it is easier to find the truths when it comes to this miracle plant, but you must still be wary of your sources as there are many business and governments who would stand to lose vast piles of money should it ever become legal. Beyond these issues, it is a wonder drug, a miracle, many people who are in much worse shape than you and I will attest to this, listen to them. A person dying from a debilitating disease will have little to lie to you about. Facts taken from 100 years of data mining that show no deaths ever attributed to the plant, well, you do your research and prepare to be amazed…

This is really about how I lost a lot of weight and not legalization of this or that. My end point in all this is if you want it, a healthy life, its not rocket science. You know how to eat well, you simply do not do it. You know to exercise, you simply make excuses and put it off to tomorrow… You know what to do, I am another story in defense of you doing it! I speak for your body, just do it already, it takes time, so start now, not then. Wait for what, for next summer, for this, for that, this is your B O D Y, it gets you through the world. How it is treated will be a direct reflection of how it allows you to live your life. This is cut and dried my friend, You are what you eat, if you don’t run, you rust. nothing is simpler, nothing more true. If you have A N Y questions, feel free to email at your convenience, i am here to assist in whatever way I can be of service. I know it sucks, because I have lived it PERSONALLY. I now live something different. You want proof, there it is. You want help, its here. You want the motivation to do it, its all around you, in your mirror, your aches and pains, jokes a your expense. You want a new lease on life – GET CRACKIN!

One of the most commonly asked questions of the vegan lifestyle: Where will I get my protein from, part of this question is will it be as good as meat based protein and of course, the pinnacle of human questioning regarding protein… Look at these teeth and look at these claws, I was made to eat meat….. right?

The first lesson for us to learn today is a very simply law of the Universe, by understanding this simple principle, we can lead ourselves, in many aspects of our lives, to a place of personal truth, and, vis-a-vis, positive personal growth and change. Today we are applying this law simply to our bodies and what we eat or do not eat (which only largely determines what are bodies do, then you have thoughts and other factors we can chat about later). I will first demonstrate in a quick story about a business person my first tid bit I would like you to consider.

Alejandra started a business, in my world, I do not know an Alejandra who started a business for 2 dollars, so know this is metaphoric, so, she started a business and it cost her a total of two dollars in advertising and marketing, packaging, electricity, employees wages etc. , only to end up making one dollar. She spent two and only made one. Most of us, even those amongst us who are deplorable business people will know this is a very bad equation for profitability, or making gains.

Do you see where I am going with this, I told you, very quick story… Before you read on, what could this relate to in the body…. Ok, keep reading.

Our bodies use energy to digest our food in order to get more energy. We must make saliva, chew (EXTREMELY IMPORTANT – try to chew your age, get your children to start doing this at 12), peristoltic action (muscle movement) to get food through our entire system, further enzymes and acids to be made in the stomach to properly digest, action of all the organs involved, simply raising your hand to your mouth involves complexities too numerous to list, eating takes energy and a lot of it! Many scientists agree and studies are beginning to show that one of the fundamental reasons for human “aging” is over eating and improper eating.

If we use more energy to process something than we gain, how long can we run the business of our bodies? Do you see/does that make sense?

If you eat an organic carrot, you will gain energy as it is relatively easy to digest and comes pre-packed with it’s own enzymes which allows your body to use less of its own energy to custom create enzymes, so you end up with a pretty good GAIN.

If this same carrot is cooked, more than likely all of it’s enzymes are now destroyed, your body must make ALL the digestive enzymes, you net gain is now lower, as your body had to create digestive enzymes and you are getting less vitamins as some/many may be destroyed by the heat.

Now, take this same carrot and raise it on a NON ORGANIC farm that uses pesticides, heavy fertilizers, fungicides, weed killers etc., basically what all major commercial farming operations do these days, the reason we get carrots that make guys envious, tomatoes that are so big you could make a jar of pasta sauce with one or two and of course, good luck finding an actual taste. Lets not falter in our path, we’re going to eat this carrot.

Your body now has to deal with not only making enzymes as many of the plants natural ones are incomplete, your body must begin disposing of waste.

Remember the petroleum based fertilizers, insecticides, etc. They are all in there! You are eating the very thing a person should have worn a bio-chem suit in order to spray (many times they do!)! You’re eating that, it sinks into the veggies, just like it would sink into you if you didnt have that suit on. Not to mention, there are far fewer nutrients to begin with as the soils used in these operations have largely been destroyed and are the equivalent of styrofoam (exageration to make point, well, unfortunately, not a great exaggeration at all). Basically the soil is now simply a medium to hold fertilizer.

Your body is taxed to the limit simply getting rid of all the dangerous things you are ingesting, let alone worrying about nutrition. Nutrition with this type of food usually encompasses a very small amount of vitamins and minerals, basically it is good to fill your stomach, after you begin digesting, its a losing business for the body. LOSS

Now you cook that same carrot, near total loss, you are filling your belly. Having a slightly better view of raw/cooked, organic/non organic, you begin to put food in perspective.

This is one of the many ways you can start to “add truth” to your diet and since you are what you eat, to your life as a whole. Does this apple give me more or less energy, does this job give me more or less energy, does this relationship, it’s all about your relationship to anything else in the universe, does it give you more energy than it takes from you?

That being said, lets learn about protein, the primary building block of the human machine!

We are going to focus only on simple facts of the “machine”, there is nothing to argue about here, this is simple construction. You can make up your own minds about the information, We are not here to convince anyone of anything, you want to take a Ferrari 4 wheeling through mud and rocks, be my guest (metaphor).

That humans are so very adaptable allows us to do many things which are not good for our health and still survive for long periods of time (drug/alcohol addictions, dangerous work environments, terrible relationships etc.). So, first things first, here is a complete breakdown of all things associated with eating food for meat eating animals (carnivores), animals that eat meat and plants (omnivores), plant eaters (herbivores) and humans. Humans are in a separate category as we are not at a place in our history where we can agree on us. So, as to not offend anyones sensibilities, we shall remain apart, know and understand one thing very well, we ARE an animal, just as a rat is an animal, a cow is an animal, a chihuahua is an animal, a shark is an animal (fishy one), YOU ARE JUST AN ANIMAL, dont forget this, you fit into the greater scheme, the big picture, you are not the king of the big picture, you are a part…

I am going to put forth a comparison, not done by me, and unfortunately I forgot where I got a lot of the stuff for this article as it was meant to be a simple thing for a cooking class and it has taken on a little life of its own, if you recognize this material as any of your own, by all means, let me know so we may get you credit for your info and taxonomic genius! Based on the following comparisons, you decide what you are supposed to be eating based solely on the machinery. Not about whether or not you like meat, this has nothing to do with you liking meat, me being vegan or what kind of car your neighbor drives, or what is on sale at the local supermarket…. let go of the ego for a moment and just look at the machine you were given at birth compared to the other machines currently on the market:

Facial Muscles

CARNIVORE: Reduced to allow wide mouth gape

HERBIVORE: Well-developed

OMNIVORE: Reduced

HUMAN: Well-developed

Jaw Type

CARNIVORE: Angle not expanded

HERBIVORE: Expanded angle

OMNIVORE: Angle not expanded

HUMAN: Expanded angle

Jaw Joint Location

CARNIVORE: On same plane as molar teeth

HERBIVORE: Above the plane of the molars

OMNIVORE: On same plane as molar teeth

HUMAN: Above the plane of the molars

Remember-the herbivore is the plant eater!

Jaw Motion

CARNIVORE: Shearing; minimal side-to-side motion

HERBIVORE: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back

OMNIVORE: Shearing; minimal side-to-side

HUMAN: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back

Major Jaw Muscles

CARNIVORE: Temporalis

HERBIVORE: Masseter and pterygoids

OMNIVORE: Temporalis

HUMAN: Masseter and pterygoids

Mouth Opening vs. Head Size

CARNIVORE: Large

HERBIVORE: Small

OMNIVORE: Large

HUMAN: Small

Teeth: Incisors

CARNIVORE: Short and pointed

HERBIVORE: Broad, flattened and spade shaped

OMNIVORE: Short and pointed

HUMAN: Broad, flattened and spade shaped

Teeth: Canines

CARNIVORE: Long, sharp and curved

HERBIVORE: Dull and short or long (for defense), or none

OMNIVORE: Long, sharp and curved

HUMAN: Short and blunted

Teeth: Molars

CARNIVORE: Sharp, jagged and blade shaped

HERBIVORE: Flattened with cusps

OMNIVORE: Sharp blades and/or flattened

HUMAN: Flattened with nodular cusps

Chewing

CARNIVORE: None; swallows food whole

HERBIVORE: Extensive chewing necessary

OMNIVORE: Swallows food whole and/or simple crushing

HUMAN: Extensive chewing necessary

Saliva

CARNIVORE: No digestive enzymes

HERBIVORE: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes

OMNIVORE: No digestive enzymes

HUMAN: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes

Stomach Type

CARNIVORE: Simple

HERBIVORE: Simple or multiple chambers

OMNIVORE: Simple

HUMAN: Simple

Stomach Acidity

CARNIVORE: Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach

HERBIVORE: pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach

OMNIVORE: Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach

HUMAN: pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach

Stomach Capacity

CARNIVORE: 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract

HERBIVORE: Less than 30% of total volume of digestive tract

OMNIVORE: 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract

HUMAN: 21% to 27% of total volume of digestive tract

Length of Small Intestine

CARNIVORE: 3 to 6 times body length

HERBIVORE: 10 to more than 12 times body length

OMNIVORE: 4 to 6 times body length

HUMAN: 10 to 11 times body length

Colon

CARNIVORE: Simple, short and smooth

HERBIVORE: Long, complex; may be sacculated

OMNIVORE: Simple, short and smooth

HUMAN: Long, sacculated

Liver

CARNIVORE: Can detoxify vitamin A

HERBIVORE: Cannot detoxify vitamin A

OMNIVORE: Can detoxify vitamin A

HUMAN: Cannot detoxify vitamin A

Kidney

CARNIVORE: Extremely concentrated urine

HERBIVORE: Moderately concentrated urine

OMNIVORE: Extremely concentrated urine

HUMAN: Moderately concentrated urine

Nails

CARNIVORE: Sharp claws

HERBIVORE: Flattened nails or blunt hooves

OMNIVORE: Sharp claws

HUMAN: Flattened nails

What do you think?

Why do we need proteins, they are what the body uses by breaking them down into amino acids which are then used to make specific proteins for itself so it can heal. The body is in constant repair, 24 hours a day from birth to death, whenever this repair system breaks down, you know it.

We are able, as humans, to make a lot of the amino acids needed, HOWEVER, there are currently 9 out of 20 that we cannot make. These are called “essential”, we get them through our food intake. If we do not get them for a long enough period of time, all sorts of trouble will ensue. Starting with general weakness leading gradually to serious illness of all kinds.

For the plant world, Complete Proteins (meaning all amino acids are present) are very easy to find:

Algae such as chlorella and spirulina

Amaranth

Buckwheat

Hemp

Soya beans and products such as tofu and tempeh

Quinoa

there are more, but that is up to you, do some research, learn about your body…

Once we have our list of incomplete proteins, it is then a simple matter of combining to make complete proteins and keep us healthy, many of you do it without even realizing! Here are some examples:

Hummus and pitta bread

Beans on toast (whole wheat)

Peanut butter on wholegrain bread

Muesli and soya milk

Rice with peas or beans

Corn and beans (the way the corn is processed with Lime in traditional tortillas and then combined with beans makes a complete protein, our oldest ancestors knew this and modern science has only shown us in the last 30 years! Modern science is not the key to health, wisdom is.)

How much do you truly need?

After all, it is almost as bad to overfill an auto engine with oil as to have it under-filled…

We need 0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight. Based on this, an average male who weighs 154 pounds should eat around 56 grams of protein per day. Females who weigh 110 pounds should eat on average around 40 grams of protein per day. At a given time, your body can digest around 25 grams of protein, try to break it up through out your day…

Some examples of vegan protein amounts would be:

3/4 cup of lentils = 13 grams

150 grams of firm tofu = 21 grams

1 slice wholemeal bread = 3 grams

1/4 cup of almonds = 8 grams

1/2 a cup of hummus = 8 grams

2 tablespoons of peanut butter = 7 grams

1 cup of brown rice = 5 grams

1 cup cooked spaghetti = 8 grams

1 cup of soya milk = 7 grams

1 cup of baked beans = 12 grams

1 cup tempeh = 41 grams

You can see from the above listed food items that it is fairly easy to get enough vegan protein. Most nuts, grains, beans and seeds contain a high amount of protein – and nearly all vegetables contain good amounts of protein too.

Interesting note – Kale is one of the highest concentration of not only protein but of EVERYTHING! SUPERFOOD

A vegan diet will easily meet or exceed the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) of protein but will typically be lower than that of someone who eats a meat and dairy diet (the average American consumes around double the RDA of protein – America also leads the world in dietary linked death!). But the good news is that this lower intake will also benefit you as a high protein diet has been linked to osteoporosis and aggravating poor kidney functioning, blocked vessels/arteries, heart disease etc.. Further, the protein from vegetables is easier for the body to digest and use. Of course, it is also karma free, and for a growing number of people who are slowly ‘switching on”, this is of very high importance.

That concludes our brief lesson on the animal kingdom, proteins and what it is to be a human with a fork in one hand and a knife in the other. Enjoy your life and always do your best to tell yourself the truth!

As Mark Twain said, if all slaughterhouses had glass walls, the world would be vegetarian.

One of the most commonly asked questions of the vegan lifestyle: Where will I get my protein from, part of this question is will it be as good as meat based protein and of course, the pinnacle of human questioning regarding protein… Look at these teeth and look at these claws, I was made to eat meat….. right?

The first lesson for us to learn today is a very simply law of the Universe, by understanding this simple principle, we can lead ourselves, in many aspects of our lives, to a place of personal truth, and, vis-a-vis, positive personal growth and change. Today we are applying this law simply to our bodies and what we eat or do not eat (which only largely determines what are bodies do, then you have thoughts and other factors we can chat about later). I will first demonstrate in a quick story about a business person my first tid bit I would like you to consider.

Alejandra started a business, in my world, I do not know an Alejandra who started a business for 2 dollars, so know this is metaphoric, so, she started a business and it cost her a total of two dollars in advertising and marketing, packaging, electricity, employees wages etc. , only to end up making one dollar. She spent two and only made one. Most of us, even those amongst us who are deplorable business people will know this is a very bad equation for profitability, or making gains.

Do you see where I am going with this, I told you, very quick story… Before you read on, what could this relate to in the body…. Ok, keep reading.

Our bodies use energy to digest our food in order to get more energy. We must make saliva, chew (EXTREMELY IMPORTANT – try to chew your age, get your children to start doing this at 12), peristoltic action (muscle movement) to get food through our entire system, further enzymes and acids to be made in the stomach to properly digest, action of all the organs involved, simply raising your hand to your mouth involves complexities too numerous to list, eating takes energy and a lot of it! Many scientists agree and studies are beginning to show that one of the fundamental reasons for human “aging” is over eating and improper eating.

If we use more energy to process something than we gain, how long can we run the business of our bodies? Do you see/does that make sense?

If you eat an organic carrot, you will gain energy as it is relatively easy to digest and comes pre-packed with it’s own enzymes which allows your body to use less of its own energy to custom create enzymes, so you end up with a pretty good GAIN.

If this same carrot is cooked, more than likely all of it’s enzymes are now destroyed, your body must make ALL the digestive enzymes, you net gain is now lower, as your body had to create digestive enzymes and you are getting less vitamins as some/many may be destroyed by the heat.

Now, take this same carrot and raise it on a NON ORGANIC farm that uses pesticides, heavy fertilizers, fungicides, weed killers etc., basically what all major commercial farming operations do these days, the reason we get carrots that make guys envious, tomatoes that are so big you could make a jar of pasta sauce with one or two and of course, good luck finding an actual taste. Lets not falter in our path, we’re going to eat this carrot.

Your body now has to deal with not only making enzymes as many of the plants natural ones are incomplete, your body must begin disposing of waste.

Remember the petroleum based fertilizers, insecticides, etc. They are all in there! You are eating the very thing a person should have worn a bio-chem suit in order to spray (many times they do!)! You’re eating that, it sinks into the veggies, just like it would sink into you if you didnt have that suit on. Not to mention, there are far fewer nutrients to begin with as the soils used in these operations have largely been destroyed and are the equivalent of styrofoam (exageration to make point, well, unfortunately, not a great exaggeration at all). Basically the soil is now simply a medium to hold fertilizer.

Your body is taxed to the limit simply getting rid of all the dangerous things you are ingesting, let alone worrying about nutrition. Nutrition with this type of food usually encompasses a very small amount of vitamins and minerals, basically it is good to fill your stomach, after you begin digesting, its a losing business for the body. LOSS

Now you cook that same carrot, near total loss, you are filling your belly. Having a slightly better view of raw/cooked, organic/non organic, you begin to put food in perspective.

This is one of the many ways you can start to “add truth” to your diet and since you are what you eat, to your life as a whole. Does this apple give me more or less energy, does this job give me more or less energy, does this relationship, it’s all about your relationship to anything else in the universe, does it give you more energy than it takes from you?

That being said, lets learn about protein, the primary building block of the human machine!

We are going to focus only on simple facts of the “machine”, there is nothing to argue about here, this is simple construction. You can make up your own minds about the information, We are not here to convince anyone of anything, you want to take a Ferrari 4 wheeling through mud and rocks, be my guest (metaphor).

That humans are so very adaptable allows us to do many things which are not good for our health and still survive for long periods of time (drug/alcohol addictions, dangerous work environments, terrible relationships etc.). So, first things first, here is a complete breakdown of all things associated with eating food for meat eating animals (carnivores), animals that eat meat and plants (omnivores), plant eaters (herbivores) and humans. Humans are in a separate category as we are not at a place in our history where we can agree on us. So, as to not offend anyones sensibilities, we shall remain apart, know and understand one thing very well, we ARE an animal, just as a rat is an animal, a cow is an animal, a chihuahua is an animal, a shark is an animal (fishy one), YOU ARE JUST AN ANIMAL, dont forget this, you fit into the greater scheme, the big picture, you are not the king of the big picture, you are a part…

I am going to put forth a comparison, not done by me, and unfortunately I forgot where I got a lot of the stuff for this article as it was meant to be a simple thing for a cooking class and it has taken on a little life of its own, if you recognize this material as any of your own, by all means, let me know so we may get you credit for your info and taxonomic genius! Based on the following comparisons, you decide what you are supposed to be eating based solely on the machinery. Not about whether or not you like meat, this has nothing to do with you liking meat, me being vegan or what kind of car your neighbor drives, or what is on sale at the local supermarket…. let go of the ego for a moment and just look at the machine you were given at birth compared to the other machines currently on the market:

Facial Muscles

CARNIVORE: Reduced to allow wide mouth gape

HERBIVORE: Well-developed

OMNIVORE: Reduced

HUMAN: Well-developed

Jaw Type

CARNIVORE: Angle not expanded

HERBIVORE: Expanded angle

OMNIVORE: Angle not expanded

HUMAN: Expanded angle

Jaw Joint Location

CARNIVORE: On same plane as molar teeth

HERBIVORE: Above the plane of the molars

OMNIVORE: On same plane as molar teeth

HUMAN: Above the plane of the molars

Remember-the herbivore is the plant eater!

Jaw Motion

CARNIVORE: Shearing; minimal side-to-side motion

HERBIVORE: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back

OMNIVORE: Shearing; minimal side-to-side

HUMAN: No shear; good side-to-side, front-to-back

Major Jaw Muscles

CARNIVORE: Temporalis

HERBIVORE: Masseter and pterygoids

OMNIVORE: Temporalis

HUMAN: Masseter and pterygoids

Mouth Opening vs. Head Size

CARNIVORE: Large

HERBIVORE: Small

OMNIVORE: Large

HUMAN: Small

Teeth: Incisors

CARNIVORE: Short and pointed

HERBIVORE: Broad, flattened and spade shaped

OMNIVORE: Short and pointed

HUMAN: Broad, flattened and spade shaped

Teeth: Canines

CARNIVORE: Long, sharp and curved

HERBIVORE: Dull and short or long (for defense), or none

OMNIVORE: Long, sharp and curved

HUMAN: Short and blunted

Teeth: Molars

CARNIVORE: Sharp, jagged and blade shaped

HERBIVORE: Flattened with cusps

OMNIVORE: Sharp blades and/or flattened

HUMAN: Flattened with nodular cusps

Chewing

CARNIVORE: None; swallows food whole

HERBIVORE: Extensive chewing necessary

OMNIVORE: Swallows food whole and/or simple crushing

HUMAN: Extensive chewing necessary

Saliva

CARNIVORE: No digestive enzymes

HERBIVORE: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes

OMNIVORE: No digestive enzymes

HUMAN: Carbohydrate digesting enzymes

Stomach Type

CARNIVORE: Simple

HERBIVORE: Simple or multiple chambers

OMNIVORE: Simple

HUMAN: Simple

Stomach Acidity

CARNIVORE: Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach

HERBIVORE: pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach

OMNIVORE: Less than or equal to pH 1 with food in stomach

HUMAN: pH 4 to 5 with food in stomach

Stomach Capacity

CARNIVORE: 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract

HERBIVORE: Less than 30% of total volume of digestive tract

OMNIVORE: 60% to 70% of total volume of digestive tract

HUMAN: 21% to 27% of total volume of digestive tract

Length of Small Intestine

CARNIVORE: 3 to 6 times body length

HERBIVORE: 10 to more than 12 times body length

OMNIVORE: 4 to 6 times body length

HUMAN: 10 to 11 times body length

Colon

CARNIVORE: Simple, short and smooth

HERBIVORE: Long, complex; may be sacculated

OMNIVORE: Simple, short and smooth

HUMAN: Long, sacculated

Liver

CARNIVORE: Can detoxify vitamin A

HERBIVORE: Cannot detoxify vitamin A

OMNIVORE: Can detoxify vitamin A

HUMAN: Cannot detoxify vitamin A

Kidney

CARNIVORE: Extremely concentrated urine

HERBIVORE: Moderately concentrated urine

OMNIVORE: Extremely concentrated urine

HUMAN: Moderately concentrated urine

Nails

CARNIVORE: Sharp claws

HERBIVORE: Flattened nails or blunt hooves

OMNIVORE: Sharp claws

HUMAN: Flattened nails

What do you think?

Why do we need proteins, they are what the body uses by breaking them down into amino acids which are then used to make specific proteins for itself so it can heal. The body is in constant repair, 24 hours a day from birth to death, whenever this repair system breaks down, you know it.

We are able, as humans, to make a lot of the amino acids needed, HOWEVER, there are currently 9 out of 20 that we cannot make. These are called “essential”, we get them through our food intake. If we do not get them for a long enough period of time, all sorts of trouble will ensue. Starting with general weakness leading gradually to serious illness of all kinds.

For the plant world, Complete Proteins (meaning all amino acids are present) are very easy to find:

Algae such as chlorella and spirulina

Amaranth

Buckwheat

Hemp

Soya beans and products such as tofu and tempeh

Quinoa

there are more, but that is up to you, do some research, learn about your body…

Once we have our list of incomplete proteins, it is then a simple matter of combining to make complete proteins and keep us healthy, many of you do it without even realizing! Here are some examples:

Hummus and pitta bread

Beans on toast (whole wheat)

Peanut butter on wholegrain bread

Muesli and soya milk

Rice with peas or beans

Corn and beans (the way the corn is processed with Lime in traditional tortillas and then combined with beans makes a complete protein, our oldest ancestors knew this and modern science has only shown us in the last 30 years! Modern science is not the key to health, wisdom is.)

How much do you truly need?

After all, it is almost as bad to overfill an auto engine with oil as to have it under-filled…

We need 0.8 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight. Based on this, an average male who weighs 154 pounds should eat around 56 grams of protein per day. Females who weigh 110 pounds should eat on average around 40 grams of protein per day. At a given time, your body can digest around 25 grams of protein, try to break it up through out your day…

Some examples of vegan protein amounts would be:

3/4 cup of lentils = 13 grams

150 grams of firm tofu = 21 grams

1 slice wholemeal bread = 3 grams

1/4 cup of almonds = 8 grams

1/2 a cup of hummus = 8 grams

2 tablespoons of peanut butter = 7 grams

1 cup of brown rice = 5 grams

1 cup cooked spaghetti = 8 grams

1 cup of soya milk = 7 grams

1 cup of baked beans = 12 grams

1 cup tempeh = 41 grams

You can see from the above listed food items that it is fairly easy to get enough vegan protein. Most nuts, grains, beans and seeds contain a high amount of protein – and nearly all vegetables contain good amounts of protein too.

Interesting note – Kale is one of the highest concentration of not only protein but of EVERYTHING! SUPERFOOD

A vegan diet will easily meet or exceed the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) of protein but will typically be lower than that of someone who eats a meat and dairy diet (the average American consumes around double the RDA of protein – America also leads the world in dietary linked death!). But the good news is that this lower intake will also benefit you as a high protein diet has been linked to osteoporosis and aggravating poor kidney functioning, blocked vessels/arteries, heart disease etc.. Further, the protein from vegetables is easier for the body to digest and use. Of course, it is also karma free, and for a growing number of people who are slowly ‘switching on”, this is of very high importance.

That concludes our brief lesson on the animal kingdom, proteins and what it is to be a human with a fork in one hand and a knife in the other. Enjoy your life and always do your best to tell yourself the truth!

As Mark Twain said, if all slaughterhouses had glass walls, the world would be vegetarian.